


Don't Save Me

by city_bright



Category: The Mindy Project
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-28 10:23:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17181167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/city_bright/pseuds/city_bright
Summary: Mindy attends Danny's wedding. Set after Concord (5x06).





	Don't Save Me

**Author's Note:**

> Coming at you with a new fic before the end of 2018! I wanted to explore what would happen if Mindy had gone to Danny's wedding, and for the sake of this story, Ben doesn't exist yet.

Her hands are sweaty, and she doesn’t dare wipe them along the skirt of her canary yellow dress, so she awkwardly shakes them at her side, pacing in circles outside the church.

Today is Danny’s wedding, and it’s weird, uncomfortable, and kind of a nightmare, but she just has to deal with it because for once, it’s not about her. Her shoulders relax when she sees Richie approaching the church from across the street, who is a much needed respite from the pitiful “how are you doing, dear?” line of questioning from other guests.

“You have no idea how happy I am to see you,” she sighs in relief, pulling him in for a hug.

“Hey, Mindy,” he smiles with a kiss to her cheek. He takes her hand and raises it up above her head, so she can spin and show off her dress. “You look beautiful. Definitely the best dressed here.”

“Aww, thank you. I knew you’d appreciate it. No one else here seems to appreciate fashion. Practically everyone else is wearing pastels, ugh.”

A woman wearing pastel purple walks by at the most perfect timing, and they turn away to share a stifling laugh. Richie audibly sighs as his laughter dies down. “So,” he starts, extending the syllable.

“Oh, no. Not you too.” She shakes her head, willing away the approaching conversation. Out of all the people here, she knew she could count on Richie for not bringing up the obvious. It’s not even 10 am, and she already needs a drink. She knows she shouldn’t have come, and she indulges in the fantasy of drinking wine straight from the bottle in the comforts of her pajamas and bed and sighs in defeat of what could have been.

“How are you doing?”

Mindy raises her arms in a half-hearted shrug, her hands hitting the side of her legs, and takes a glance through the church doors, the interior darkened by the bright early summer sun. She humors him.

“I’m so happy to be here, and I feel great! He chose to get married on such a perfect day - the weather is perfect. You know? Just so happy for him.”

Richie drops his head slightly and gives her one of those looks she’s been on the receiving end of for far too many times today. “That was the worst acting I’ve ever seen in my life. Mindy, I’m serious.”

“That’s rude,” she scoffs with an eye roll. She knows he means well, but she can’t help but show her disdain. “I don’t know what you want me to say. There’s nothing to say anyway. I’m fine. I promise.”

“He’s a mess, you know? I mean, I guess he’s always been one.” She huffs in agreement. “But more so today. You should talk to him, Mindy. He’s making a mistake.”

She sighs in defeat. “And if I do that, then I’m making one too. It’s not my responsibility to talk him out of it. He needs to make that decision on his own. Besides, I’m not going to ruin his wedding.”

Richie nods thoughtfully. “Yeah, he’s never been really good at that,” he chuckles low. “Always been too beside himself. You should talk to him anyway though. It might do you some good too. Come on.” He angles his elbow out towards her, and she loops her arm in his. “We got a wedding to go to.”

They walk up the steps and enter the church where guests have started lining up to sign the guest book. Richie abandons her at the line, and she clutches his arm, nearly begging him not to leave and force her to make small talk. 

“Either this, or come with me to see Danny.”

Mindy releases his arm and flips her hair back, straightening her posture. Beggars can’t be choosers or whatever the phrase is. “I’ll stay here.”

“That’s what I thought. I’ll catch you inside,” he calls out as he retreats.

She thankfully endures the line unscathed and quickly finds her seat in the second row. It’s a little disconcerting being so close to the action with no one to really talk to, except for Annette, who is for sure doting over her two sons and grandson somewhere in the church. 

She takes in all the details, and it’s more extravagant than she expected. Large fountain bouquets of flowers line every single pew, the aisle is lined with white satin and dotted with light pink rose petals. There are even garlands, speckled with baby’s breath, on the back of each pew. It’s beautifully decorated, but obviously more catered to Sarah’s liking than Danny’s.

Mindy spies Richie out of the corner of her eye while she’s lazily scanning the program of the wedding. She automatically scoots down the pew to make room for him, never taking her eyes off the program.

“Can you believe there’s no open bar? I mean, Danny is literally the cheapest guy I know, but still, you know?” She looks up to Richie, waiting for him to back her up her sentiments, but she finds Danny instead, with the most confused and amused look on his face.

“Shit!” She jumps a good three feet further down the pew and doubles over, dropping her program on the floor and grasping the garlands on the pew in front of her. Blood is rushing into her ears, and her heart is beating so fast it hurts. She can hear his muffled laughter over the pounding of her heart, and this whole thing feels so unfair that tears prick behind her eyes.

“What the hell, Danny?!”

“Are you okay? I’m sorry,” he manages in between his now dwindling laughter.

“Like hell you are! You almost gave me, the _mother of your child_ ,” she emphasizes because she gave birth to his son on a subway, damn it, and she will never let him forget, “a heart attack!”

He slides down a little further to pat her on the back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you, promise.” She leans back against the pew and tries to regain normal breathing patterns and lower her blood pressure. “I just wanted to say hi before the ceremony.”

“You couldn’t have started off with that?!” She smooths out the skirt of her dress and exhales sharply, still not quite in the mood to forgive him yet.

“How are you?”

“People really need to stop asking me that, it’s annoying. Or, I don’t know, ask more interesting questions or something,” she bites back, with a wave with her hand and a click of her tongue. She takes a quick glance at him, and he’s taken aback and confused, and she sighs. “Sorry, it’s-“ she shakes her head. “I’m fine, thanks. You?” She’s internally groaning and banging her head against the wall because this small talk with Danny is absolutely excruciating. Definitely should’ve stayed home.

He chuckles awkwardly, unsure of what to say other than, “I’m great.”

“Good. Happy to hear it,” she says, pulling her lips up to a strained smile. “Um, sorry I missed your call last night. I went to Concord to see my mom.”

“Concord? Everything okay?”

She melts a little bit, letting her shoulders fall, because he remembers that she really only goes to Concord to see her mom when she’s feeling so down in the gutters that not even romantic comedies can cure. But she can’t and won't let him know that his wedding had that kind of effect on her, so she lies and offers him the other side of the truth. “Yeah, everything's fine. My dad is traveling for business, so I went up to keep her company and check in on Rishi.”

“Rishi was in there too? How is he doing?”

“DJ school problems or something? I wasn’t paying attention to be honest,” she quietly laughs. “But whatever, he’ll figure it out - always does.”

“Yeah, he’s a smart kid.” 

The conversation has come to a stand still, and Mindy feels like she wants to die in this lifetime of silence, which is somehow worse than the small talk. She wants to ask why he called her, not only to quell her curiosity, but also to make conversation, even an uncomfortable one, and make this silence stop. But she figures it would be a pointless conversation, so she resigns to suffering through the silence. Fortunately, and yet somehow unfortunately, Danny has other ideas and sighs heavily.

“I think I’m- I don’t know what I’m doing, Min.” He lets out a cross between a croak and a laugh, finding the predicament he put himself in almost laughable.

She honestly should’ve seen this coming - he always seems to come to her when he has to make difficult decisions he doesn't want to make and ask her what he should do. For a time, she enjoyed it and liked that he values her opinion because who wouldn’t? But at some point, he has to make his own decisions and live with them, whether they’re right or wrong, so she’s sticking to her guns and relinquishing this responsibility she had always thought was hers.

“From the looks of it,” she says brightly, looking at the lavish decorations surrounding them, “getting married seems to be the occasion here. It’s up to you if you want to do it or not.” She places a hand on his arm before she rises to stand. “I’m going to check on Leo before the ceremony starts.”

She walks past him, out the pew, and down the aisle. She stands up straight and tall as she walks, proud of herself for not looking back at who she’s leaving behind. She finds Richie and Leo in the groom’s suite with Annette, and Mindy scoops up her son in her arms.

“You look so handsome. Are you ready, baby?” she asks, running a hand through his loose curls.

“Yes, mama, I get to carry the pillow!”

She laughs at his enthusiasm. She hopes he never loses that. “That’s right, and you’re going to do a great job.”

“Look!” he gestures towards Danny, who just walked in, excited to show Mindy their matching tuxes. “Me and Daddy are matching!”

“I can see that,” she smiles. “But don’t tell him - you look cuter,” she whispers with a kiss to his cheek.

Danny places a kiss on Leo’s cheek as well before settling him on his hip.

“Dad, guess what?”

“What’s that?”

“Mommy says I look cuter than you.”

“Way to keep a secret, Leo!” Mindy gasps, playfully scolding him, to which Leo bursts out in his bubbly giggles. “Okay, I have to go and take my seat with your grandma. You’re gonna do great. I love you.”

“Love you too, Mommy.”

She smiles widely at her son, overcome with emotion at how grown up her little boy looks in his tux. She looks at Danny and gives him an encouraging smile. “See you out there.” He nods in agreement, his eyes quickly darting from hers to the floor, and she pretends she doesn’t notice.

She takes her seat next to Annette, who places a hand over Mindy’s. Small gestures like these still surprise her - an indication of how far they’ve come since they first met years ago. Annette has become a second mother to her over the years, despite the tumultuous relationship she has with Danny, and she’s so thankful to have her in her life.

Annette is facing the altar, observing the decorations when she begins to speak. “You know, Mindy,” she starts quietly with a disappointed sigh, “we all thought this day would be different. Sarah is a lovely, sweet girl, but I know he’s not happy, and this isn't what he wants. I hope you know that.”

She finally turns to look at Mindy with a sadness in her eyes that Mindy has never seen before. She knows this isn't what Annette imaged or wanted for her son, but the thought that Annette wants her and Danny to work and be together overwhelms her as much as it touches her.

“I do,” she says softly, placing her other hand over Annette’s.

“Good. And I’m glad you’re here, Mindy, because to be honest with you, I wouldn’t have been able to deal with all the charlatans over there.”

Mindy laughs out loud at her comment and how easily Annette can change the mood with just one sentence. The stark contrast between Annette’s wry sense of humor and their sweet moment just seconds earlier causes tears to escape the corner of her eyes.

“Thank you, Annette.”

“For what?” she asks, almost insulted by the compliment. 

“For everything.”

Annette smiles at the same time the music swells to indicate the start of the ceremony, and Danny and his groomsmen, including Richie, walk out to take their place at the alter with the pastor. The bridesmaids follow suit with Leo right behind as the ring bearer. The flower girl walks down the aisle, placing rose petals on the already adorned walkway, and the music changes to signal the bride’s arrival, and everyone stands. Annette looks at her clasped hand with Mindy’s and gives it a squeeze before fully facing the back of the church.

Sarah floats down the aisle, and she looks stunning in her long sleeve, lace gown. Mindy doesn’t even know her, but the dress suits Sarah perfectly. She reaches Danny at the altar, and he takes her hand to lead her up the steps. Mindy swallows hard as she sits back down and looks to Annette, who has a very stoic look on her face.

The ceremony begins, and the pastor offers words of wisdom about marriage and relationships, which, if she’s honest, she largely tunes out in favor of being in her own head and entertaining all the different possibilities of the fastest route to a wine bottle. She’s brought back to the present with yet another squeeze from Annette’s hand, marking the perfect timing of the pastor asking if there are any objections to Danny and Sarah’s marriage. Mindy wrinkles her nose for a split second because people still ask that at weddings? But her thoughts return to Annette, and she wonders if this is a sign for her to say something. She bravely glances at Annette, who looks with almost pleading eyes, andit surprises her that Annette is practically encouraging Mindy to object.

She returns her gaze to the altar and inhales deeply. She parts her lips, and for a moment, she seriously considers saying something, but Danny has made his choice. And now it’s her to turn to make hers, and there’s nothing Annette can do to change her mind. She closes her mouth, ready for the powers that be wed the couple in front of her, but it’s already too late. She can feel everything changing by the second as soon as Danny catches her. He looks a little confused, just enough for her to notice but not enough to cause panic in others, trying to figure out what her nearly indistinguishable movement means.

She doesn’t dare breathe or move a muscle, and her heart is pounding with fear when she sees the quiet panic stirring behind his eyes, and oh my god, she’s living in a Taylor Swift song. As much as it has been a dream of hers to live a Taylor Swift song, this is not how she ever imagined it. 

The air is still, and the silence continues, granting the pastor permission to continue with the service. Danny shuffles his feet, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, and returns his full attention to Sarah. Mindy hopes the worst has passed and exhales.

Zero for two because Danny has, yet again, other ideas. Time seems to be frozen, her heart is pounding erratically against her chest, her vision blurs and narrows, and all the other cliche descriptions of what happens when life unravels right in front of you.

Danny steps back and away from Sarah, letting go of her hands, and whispers an I’m sorry. There’s a collective gasp in the church, which Mindy finds a tad dramatic, but still simultaneously very fitting for the occasion.

Annette whispers to Mindy. “What’s happening? Did you tell him to do this?”

“I didn’t say anything to him. I have no idea what he’s doing,” Mindy quickly whispers back. “Annette, can you take Leo? I don’t want him to see this.” Annette nods and successfully leads Leo away under the guise of a bathroom break.

Mindy returns her attention to the train wreck that is unfolding at the altar, and Sarah is gripping Danny’s hand, begging him to explain why he was doing this now, in front of their friends and family.

“I know, I’m so sorry, but I can’t do this. Let’s just go talk in private, and I’ll explain. I promise.”

“No, if you can do this in front of everyone, then you can explain to me what is wrong with you, right here, right now,” Sarah demands, anger threatening to bubble over.

“Sarah, please, can we do this privately?”

“No, you decided to do this here and now, so we’re going to do this right now.” She crosses her arms expectantly.

“I- I can’t marry you, I don’t want this. I shouldn’t have taken it this far, I’m sorry.”

“Is there someone else? Who is she?”

“There isn’t anyone else. I’m not happy, and I should have told you a long time ago, but I’m telling you now. I’m sorry, but I can’t do this.”

“You don’t have to lie to me, Danny,” she says more quietly, her anger towards him still unrelenting. “I know you still love her.”

“I will always love her, but she has nothing to do with this, I swear.”

“You’re a coward,” she spits at him. She picks up the train of her dress and walks back down the aisle. Danny steals a glance at Mindy and follows Sarah down the aisle.

Mindy focuses her attention to Richie at the altar, and he’s as surprised as she is. Richie narrows his eyes towards her in question, and she shrugs, telling him she had no prior knowledge to this. He tilted his head towards the back of the church, and she nods in agreement, and they quickly walk to the back of the church, offering awkward smiles to the guests as they pass.

Finally in the privacy of a deserted hallway of the church, they release their exclamations of shock.

“Did you know he was going to do this?” Richie asks a bit frantically.

“No! I had no idea! Oh, my god,” she remembers, sharply turning around towards the exit, “I need to find Annette and Leo. What am I going to tell him?” She is in full panic mode now because how do you explain to a child that his father decided to call off his wedding?

“Mindy, it’ll be okay,” Richie reassures her, his own panic falling to the wayside. “I’ll take care of Danny, and you can go find them. Leo will be fine - Ma is with him.”

Mindy nods, unable to dislodge the frog in her throat to say anything, and they split up to go their separate ways in the church. She finds Annette showing Leo the different paintings lining the hallways of the church and relaxes a bit.

“Leo, what are you doing?” she calls out, injecting as much playfulness into her voice as she can, not wanting to Leo to be suspicious.

“Grandma is showing me all these cool pictures!” he exclaims as he is returned back into Mindy’s arms.

“Really? That sounds fun. I can’t wait to hear all about it, but I need one second to talk to your Grandma, okay?” Leo nods as she sets him down by her feet and lets him wander around close by.

“Richie went to go find Danny and see what’s going on. I think you should be with him. I’ll hang around and keep Leo company for as long as I can until…,” she trails off, realizing she doesn’t know what she’s waiting for. She continues anyway, unable to think that far into the future at the moment. “I don’t want Leo to know something is wrong.”

“It's okay, Mindy. You go to Danny and talk to him. I'll stay here with Leo until you're ready.”

“Annette, I- I don’t know about that," she replies nervously, shaking her head, "I don't think it's a good idea.”

“We can tell him everything he needs to hear to get through this, but he needs to hear it from you. He trusts you. But it's your decision, Mindy.”

Mindy grapples with the decision, wondering what good will come from talking to him, but she might be able to leave this church with more than what she came in with. She agrees, thanking Annette for being here and giving her a hug before she leaves to find Danny and Richie. She enters the grooms’ suite and finds Richie sitting down with his elbows on his knees. 

“He’s not here. He’s in Sarah’s room.”

“Oh,” she sighs in relief. "Have you talked to him yet?”

“No. I came here first, and it was empty. Heard some commotion coming from Sarah’s room, and I figured he was in there. Take a seat,” he offered, pointing to the open seat next to him at the window.

“Why is this happening, Richie?” she questions. “Seems like it would’ve been less of a fuss if he had just gotten married." Even though Danny was the one who stopped his wedding, she can’t help but feel that her presence exacerbated the situation. Definitely, absolutely should’ve stayed home today.

He lets out a wry chuckle. “You got me there - no idea.”

They sit in silence for what seems like forever when there’s a click in the lock, and their eyes dart up to the door immediately. Danny walks in and looks at her softly, and her heart pounds with fervor, his affect on her still unwavering as ever. He looks a bit sad, but also surprisingly calm for a man who broke up with his fiancé in front of everyone.

“I’ll leave you two alone." Richie stands to leave before looking back at Mindy. “Are you gonna be okay?” She nods and offers him a smile, and he stops to squeeze Danny’s shoulder on his way out. “I’m sorry, man.”

The door closes behind him, and it’s just her and Danny in the room. She doesn’t know how to handle this, and romantic comedies hasn’t quite prepared her for something like this. She knows she made the right decision about their relationship, but she still struggles with letting the idea of them go and letting Danny go, for whatever reason she can’t pinpoint. This wedding was supposed to be the final cut of the cord and make moving on easier, but where does this leave her now?

“I’m sorry, Danny, I don’t know what to say,” she offers, shaking her head and already giving up on wrapping her head around this whole entire situation.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to say anything. I don’t regret the decision I made not to marry her. I wasn’t happy with her and marriage wouldn’t have changed that,” he explains, resolute in his response.

She nods thoughtfully, the irony of him telling her almost the exact same thing when he decided to break up with Christina one last time not lost on her. “Then I think you made the right decision. You deserve to be happy.”

“Thanks.” He’s looking at her expectantly, like maybe he’s waiting for her to confess something. She sighs deeply, pushing her palms against the edge of her seat and getting ready to stand and leave because this seems like a good end to the conversation, but he continues. “Back there…. before, when the pastor asked- were you going to say something?” he nervously asks.

She carefully thinks about her answer because she doesn't want to lie by saying no or lead him on by saying yes. She settles on asking him if it really matters because at the end of the day, her answer doesn't change anything.

He shakes his head. "No. I thought- it seemed like you were, but maybe I imagined it. I don't know, it was kind of a blur," he admits with a hollow laugh, before continuing. “You know, I thought that if I married her, then I would be giving up on us. I’ve accepted that we’ll probably never get back together, and that’s okay, but I never wanted to give up or have you think that I did. I know it sounds crazy and stupid, but I just couldn’t.”

Mindy drops her shoulders, only now understanding the full extent to which Danny has also been struggling with the end of their relationship. Knowing it’s just as hard on him as it is on her makes her feel less alone, and she hopes they can both walk out of this room better equipped to move on.

“No, it doesn’t sound crazy,” she replies softly, “ or stupid. I never thought for a second you gave up. We just… had to let each other go, but I don’t think we gave up. I certainly don’t see it that way, and I don’t want you to think you can’t be with someone else because it would mean you’d be giving up because it won’t. I want you to be happy.”

“Thanks,” he says again with a smile. “I know, I just need to remember that.”

“You’re gonna be okay, Danny?” 

He reassures her that he already is, even in these circumstances, and she sees a world of difference in his face compared to that one night in her kitchen, just months ago, when he resigned himself to a life with Sarah. For most of his life, he had been depriving himself of the happiness he didn’t think he deserved, but he is choosing to find happiness and finally allowing himself that.

He didn’t make the decision to call off his wedding with the intention and hope of winning her back or doing it for her. He did it for himself and for his own happiness, and she can feel a weight lifting off her shoulders. She realizes now that this is what she needed because it’s hard to let go of someone, especially someone she loves so deeply, when it feels like they’re still stuck and holding on. But she doesn’t need to worry about that anymore, and she hopes he doesn’t either. Now she can finally breathe and let go.

She stands from her seat and places a hand on his arm on her way out. “I’ll have Leo stay with me for a while until you get everything settled. Just let me know whenever you want to stop by or whenever you’re ready, okay?”

He nods, and with that, she heads towards the door, ready to walk away one last time, but she stops when he calls out her name.

“Hey, Mindy?”

“Yes?” she replies, turning around, hand still on the doorknob.

“I-.” He stops himself and lets out a content sigh. “Thank you.”

She smiles, her heart filling with gratitude for him and for everything he's given her, and says goodbye, closing the door behind her.

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't want Danny to win Mindy back or have any other intention besides doing this for himself. I also wanted Mindy to get some sort of closure and relief from it, and this is what happened. Is this #growth? LOL.
> 
> Title comes from the idea that you don't need another person to save you, except yourself kind of thing. Not sure if it fits well, but I suck at titles, so I've just accepted it lol.


End file.
